UOG welcomes island residents to 56th Charter Day festivities

The University of Guam celebrated its 56th Charter Day on Thursday, March 7, by welcoming the island community to a host of events showcasing student successes, cultural performances highlighting the diversity of the campus student community, food, fun and games, and welcoming back alumni.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, Lt. Gov. Joshua Tenorio, island senators, members of the diplomatic community on the island, and other dignitaries joined the celebration in the Center Courtyard.

It was a celebration that also highlighted the university’s role in Guam and the region as the primary destination for higher education and for developing a professional workforce that has helped sustain the economic growth of the region.

“When we do invest in our students, we are investing into a future that is going to take care of us in the spirit of Inafa’ Maolek, which means bringing everything into harmony,” said UOG president Anita Borja Enriquez.

The 20,000 UOG alumni in Guam, the region, the U.S. mainland, and globally, offer stories of the transformative power of a University of Guam degree, Enriquez said. “It fills my heart knowing that it is because of our institution of higher education that we can transform the lives of our students and their families and advance the community in which we live, work and play.”

Leon Guerrero, in a speech at the Charter Day opening ceremony, said she highlighted UOG in her State of the Island Speech Tuesday evening.

“Education is the lifeline of success and what this university has done is more than amazing and has gone way beyond its thinking out-of-the-box to provide an educated workforce,” the governor said.

Charter Day also provides opportunities to focus on the island cultures of our region. The annual CHamoru Language Competition was held in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Lecture Hall with 500 participants from Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. In the Center Courtyard, UOG students representing Yap, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Chuuk and the Republic of Palau showcased their respective cultures through performances. Students also participated in a hut-building competition.

“Today, we’re showcasing a lot of things that remind us of home in Chuuk,” said Nepeheniong “Nepe” Andrew May, a sophomore in the Business Administration program, and an adviser and past president of the Chuuk Student Organization. The organization replicated a hut that shows how traditional chiefs in Chuuk welcome guests in a community hut.

“The University of Guam is filled with students who welcome people from different cultures and different places and that’s why I feel very welcome here,” May said. “There’s not a time when I felt like I’m not a part of the community.”

In the hut competition, the Yap Student Organization won first place; Chuuk Student Organization placed second; Pohnpei Student Organization, took third place; and the Society of American Military Engineers, Student Chapter, placed fourth. (PR)